Mortgage lenders face repayment restrictions

BANKS and lenders chasing troubled mortgage holders for repayments face a raft of restrictions on reining in loans which will be rolled out by the end of the year.

An overhaul of the code of conduct on mortgage arrears means lenders will be banned from piling penalties onto borrowers who default on repayments. Lenders will also have to extend the current 12-month moratorium on resorting to court action to recoup loans for cooperating mortgage holders.

A restriction on the number of unsolicited calls by lenders to borrowers has also been agreed under the adapted code.